3D-printed graphene aerogels for water treatment

Lab Manager reports on a UB study that shows how to make stable and large aerogels that remove heavy metals, organic solvents and organic dyes from water and quotes study co-author Nirupam Aich, assistant professor of environmental engineering.

“The goal is to safely remove contaminants from water without releasing any problematic chemical residue,” Aich said. “The aerogels we’ve created hold their structure when put in water treatment systems, and they can be applied in diverse water treatment applications.”

The study — “3D printed graphene-biopolymer aerogels for water contaminant removal: a proof of concept” — was published in the Emerging Investigator Series of the journal Environmental Science: Nano. Arvid Masud, PhD, a former student in Aich’s lab, is the lead author; Chi Zhou, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering at UB, is a co-author.

Read the story here.